Nice Turnout at the Oct 7 Soldering Class

Paul K1YBE setup our Sixth Hands-On Radio Event last night and it was a great success.  There were 21 people present and enough helpers on hand so that there were 1 to 2 students at each table with a mentor.

The objective of the class was to practice basic soldering skills by soldering some resistors and ICs onto a prototype PCB, then to test a series LED resistor circuit.  That took about an hour to complete.  The remainder of the class, which wrapped up about 9:30 PM, involved assembling a Offset Mixer Attenuation board used for RDFing.  Most of these were completed and many were tested and found to be working.  The students had an opportunity to desolder components as the PCB had a silk-screen error that lead to a LED being installed backward.

As one might expect the age of some of the soldering equipment, and the solder itself lead to some issues.  Good, clean tools, and recognizing that solder has a shelf life (the rosin goes bad over time – 3 years per the manufacturer), was a valuable lesson.

Students and mentors at work assembling the Attenuator PCB (Mark and Mary in the foreground)

Many thanks to All Saints STEAM Academy for allowing them to use their facilities and to their Science and Math teacher Dr Mike Thombs, W9DAD (also a NCRC member).

Fox Hunt Finishes at Beavertail

The NCRC Open Fox Hunt has finished at Beavertail.  A total of FIVE hidden transmitters were placed throughout the park.  Multiple teams of hunters braved brambles and cool sea breezes to find the Foxes.  From setup to takedown, the event took about 4 hours.

Congratulations to Paul, N1PSX, and Steve, KC1AQQ, who finished with the best score.

Many thanks to Jim, KA1ZOU, for organizing the event and to all those who participated.

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Evil Jim, KA1ZOU, rides off to place the hidden foxes (music from Wizard of Oz playing)

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Fox Control — Coordinating the activities

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Two Pauls: Paul N1PSX on the left, and Paul K1YBE During setup

Fredette Brothers Paul and Dave using a HandiFinder to hunt

The Fredettes, Paul and Dave, using a HandiFinder to hunt

 

Dry Run Fox Hunt: Beavertail Thu Aug 13 at 1900L

During the Fox Hunt presentation given by Jim, KA1ZOU, tonight, a poll of the members was given, and it seemed that having Fox Hunts on Thursday after work, or Sunday morning were the most popular choices.

With this in mind, we will be holding a practice Fox Hunt THIS THURSDAY, August 13, at 1900 (7 PM).  Our rally point will be parking lot #4, which is the first parking lot you come to after passing in front of the lighthouse (the lot faces Newport).

Our objective is to allow people to try different antennas (loop, beam) and try their hand at finding a couple of hidden foxes.

We will have a few antennas available to try (beams and loops) and a few HTs to borrow.

We also made up eight short RG58 cables to hook up HTs to homebrew antennas with alligator clips.  I you would like one, please let Jim know, and the cost is $5 to the club.

Finally, you can find information about Fox Hunting (gear, procedures, etc.)  HERE